9
Then they said one to another, We do not well; this day
is a day to
give good tidings, and we are silent; if we tarry until the morning light, we shall be taken in the iniquity. Now, therefore, come, that we may enter in and give the news in the king’s house.
10
So they came and called unto the porter of the city, and they told them, saying, We went to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold,
there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied, and the tents as they
were.
11
And the porters cried out and told
it inside and in the king’s house.
12
And the king arose in the night and said unto his slaves, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we
are hungry; therefore, they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into the city.
13
Then one of his slaves answered and said, Let
some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (for they
are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; they
are also as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed) and let us send and see.